Europe

Polysilicon producer REC Silicon’s strategy to win customers outside China via discounted pricing on its FBR granular polysilicon is set to continue after Chinese anti-dumping duties are dropped and when its joint venture FBR (B) facility in China starts production in the second-half of 2017.

Private equity firm First Reserve is selling several solar plants in Italy with a combined capacity of 101MW.

Leading PV manufacturing equipment supplier Meyer Burger has received a follow-on order from an existing customer based in China for its MAiA 2.1 PERC technology upgrade platform.

French oil major Total has completed its acquisition of Saft, leading battery designer and manufacturer after a successful tender.

Inverter manufacturer KACO New Energy will cut 80 jobs from its German operations as it looks to refocus on overseas markets.

The UK's department of energy and climate change has been disbanded. The country’s energy policy will now be decided by a new department headed up by former communities minister Greg Clark, who has been appointed secretary of state for business, energy and industrial strategy.

A significant decline in the cost of PV modules and project construction, as well as a shift from small-scale projects to cheaper capex utility-scale projects, is a main driver for an clean energy investment slowdown in 2016, says Bloomberg News Energy Finance (BNEF).

SolarWorld looks set to lose its dispute in US courts with Hemlock Semiconductor.

The European Commission has warned China that it will reassess the future of the minimum import price (MIP) if a pattern of breaches continues.

Energy consultancy DNV GL has acquired Barcelona-headquartered solar control and asset management systems provider GreenPowerMonitor.